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A new bed & breakfast opens in downtown Maysville
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By MARLA TONCRAY Staff Writer
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There’s a saying in life that you need to strike while the iron is hot and that’s exactly what one local business owner in downtown Maysville has done.
Margie Zimmer, owner of Margie’s Southern Café on Market Street, has expanded her restaurant business to include a six-room bed and breakfast on the second story of the building she bought three years ago.
Margie’s Southern Bed & Breakfast opened for business less than a month ago and if early reservations are a sign of things to come, Margie’s B&B has a promising future.
“I’ve done very little advertising,” Margie said of her new business venture, but nonetheless this weekend’s Rosemary Clooney Concert has netted Margie her first guests who are in town from Florida to attend the two-day event.
“They’ll be right in the middle of things,” Margie said of the upcoming weekend and her downtown location.
In addition to this weekend, all six rooms of the bed and breakfast have been reserved by one family for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The idea of opening a bed and breakfast wasn’t on Margie’s mind when she bought the old tavern building on lower Market Street three years ago. Her main objective was to find a permanent home for her restaurant after being in operation at the former EATS location on West Second Street, Broderick’s Tavern in the Washington Historic District and the former Jim’s Donut Shop on East Second Street.
“The upstairs had always been boarding rooms, there were six of them. But I had to concentrate on this down here first,” Margie said of her restaurant business and inquiries from customers about what she would do with her second floor.
By Margie’s own admission, once her restaurant business settled down and she realized through conversations with her regular customers the need for additional lodging facilities due to the influx of construction workers as well as out-of-town visitors wasn’t being met, the idea of renovating the second floor of her building began to take shape and in June of this year, construction began.
“All the electrical, all the plumbing, everything had to be redone. I totally gutted the upstairs,” Margie said of her new venture. She also put a new roof on the building, new ceilings and most of the walls of the rooms were redone and a new bathroom added.
“I had a lot of good friends that pitched in to help,” Margie said of the project, which took three months from start to finish.
Amenities offered at Margie’s Bed & Breakfast include secured access from the street for guests, laundry service, maid service and wireless Internet connection.. There are televisions in each room and guests have an intercom system to the restaurant to order breakfast, lunch and dinner during regular restaurant hours.
Breakfast is included in the room rate and guests have their choice of any breakfast item on the menu. Margie’s Bed & Breakfast has four single rooms available and two double rooms; overnight rates are $45 for a single and $65 for a double.
The next step for Margie is to have her new sign installed, which will be a wrought iron design, advertising both her bed and breakfast and her restaurant.
A Baton Rouge, La. native, Margie is content with her decision to locate and expand her business in downtown Maysville.
“I’m learning as I go on this, this is my first time at doing something like this and I’m going to learn something new everyday. But it’s better to do something like this with it, rather than leave it like it was,” Margie said referring to the second story of her building.
“It takes a lot of money, a lot of time and a lot of work. Whatever we get, we’ll be satisfied. I like my little business here in downtown, they’ve supported me very well,” Margie said with the look of a smart business woman who is very content with her growing success and understands the loyalty of her customers who have helped her along the way.
Contact Marla Toncray at marla.toncray@lee.net or 606-564-9091 Ext. 275. |
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